First division, day 7

Sevilla came from a goal down to beat Valencia 1-2 and hand them their first league defeat of the season. Ranieri's side took the lead early in the second half when Aitor Ocio deflected Corradi's cross over his own keeper, but Baptista levelled the scores six minutes later. Both sides were left with ten men when Baraja and then Daniel Alves were sent off, and Aranda headed the winner nine minutes from the end. The result takes Sevilla level with their opponents in joint second place, now five points behind leaders Barcelona.

Fernando Torres silenced his critics with the only goal to give Atlético Madrid a 1-0 win over struggling Racing Santander. The international striker had been under fire for his poor performance for Spain, but he was in the right place to head Jorge's cross into the net early on. Other than that though there was little action, but the locals had done enough to secure fourth place and leave the Cantabrians at the bottom of the table.

The revelation side of the league so far has surely been Levante, and they moved up to fifth in the table after a 1-3 win at Numancia. Manchev, Sergio García and Nacho put Bernd Schuster's side three up with just over an hour on the clock, and Jaime Molina headed a late consolation for the hosts near the end.

A goal from David López just two minutes after coming on to make his first division debut gave Osasuna a 3-2 win over Albacete. The Pamplona based side had raced into a two goal lead with first half goals by Puñal and Valdo despite a missed Milosevic penalty, but the visitors came back to level through Buades and Redondo before López struck.

Zaragoza are in seventh place, albeit level on points with the three teams above them, after beating Real Sociedad 2-1. The first two goals came from the penalty spot, David Villa converting the first for the locals and Karpin replying for the visitors before the break. Savio got the winner in the second half though to keep up his side's 100% home record.

Athletic Bilbao moved away from the danger spots with a 1-0 win over Málaga, who drop out of the European spots as a result. Urzaiz got the goal on the half hour mark, connecting with Yeste's free kick to head past Calatayud. The result is just what the Basque side needed to give them confidence for their UEFA cup tie against Parma next Thursday.

Five sides are tied down at the bottom of the table on five points, with Mallorca moving up a couple of places away from last spot after drawing 1-1 with Villarreal. Luis García gave the Balearic Island side hope with a first half free kick, but Diego Forlán equalised a few minutes later after good work by Riquelme. Local fans called for the resignation of manager Benito Floro after the match. (17.10.04)

The Spanish league returned after a two week lay-off for international fixtures, with three matches brought forward to Saturday evening. Leaders Barcelona equalled their best ever start to a season after beating city rivals Espanyol 0-1, the only goal coming midway through the first half from Deco with a shot which took a deflection off a defender. The result means that Espanyol drop out of the top six.

Frank Rijkaard's side are now nine points clear of Real Madrid, who came from a goal down to draw 1-1 at Betis. Oliveira put the Andalusians ahead in the first half after Fernando set him up, but Ronaldo took a return pass from Zidane to level the scores after the restart. It was the Brazilian striker's first goal for his club since the opening day of the season, and only the fifth his side have scored in the league to date.

Deportivo La Coruña made it two wins in a row after beating newly promoted Getafe 2-1. Irureta rested some of his key players for Tuesday's Champions' League fixture with Liverpool, but they were never in trouble after Sergio opened the scoring early on. Víctor came on to score a second after the break, and the visitors got a late consolation when Cotelo beat Molina with a last minute free kick. (16.10.04)